The embodiments herein relate generally to pallets used to carry cargo on vehicles such as aircraft, shipping vessels or other cargo holds.
Pallets and containers are often used to carry cargo on different vehicles. On cargo aircraft, each pallet is secured to the interior floor of the aircraft by a plurality of locking mechanisms. One type of locking mechanism commonly used to secure the pallet to the aircraft floor comprises a release trigger and clamp that engages with a flange of the pallet. The manual locking and unlocking of the locking mechanism requires individuals to bend down and use their hands and fingers to maneuver the release trigger. This procedure places the user in an awkward bent over position, which increases the chance the user suffers an injury to the back, hand, fingers, or other areas of the body. Cargo aircraft may contain hundreds of locking mechanisms. This significantly increases loading and unloading times of the aircraft pallets if the locking mechanisms are manually locked and unlocked.
A variety of hand tools designed for use in different applications exist as disclosed in U.S. D475258, U.S. Patent Application Publications 2015/0275549 and 2005/0172415, which generally disclose elongated rod members. However, these hand tools do not comprise rod members with the optimal curvature and shape to effectively communicate with the locking mechanisms that secure pallets to aircraft.
As such, there is a need in the industry for a hand tool that addresses the limitations of the prior art, which effectively permits a user to use the hand tool to efficiently lock and unlock pallet locking mechanisms to vehicles such as aircraft, shipping vessels or other cargo holds. There is a further need for the hand tool to reduce injuries and user effort when used with the pallet locking mechanisms.